


baby, it ain't over

by proofinyou



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Childhood Memories, Established Relationship, F/F, Nostalgia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-25
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2019-03-23 17:35:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,078
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13792689
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/proofinyou/pseuds/proofinyou
Summary: A favorite childhood memory of Maggie's and how it follows her through life.





	baby, it ain't over

**Author's Note:**

> There are some references to Maggie's dad and her getting kicked out.

One of Maggie’s earliest memories is from the summer of 1993.

Lenny Kravitz roars through the speakers in her father’s car as they drive south on Highway 77, headed back to Blue Springs after day-long family reunion up in Lincoln. Mom couldn’t take off work for this one, so it’s only the two of them.

Maggie has the back seat all to herself as usual, her five-year-old frame still tiny enough to require a booster seat. All four windows are rolled down halfway and the warm air feels thick against her face. Maggie’s sure they’re driving a million miles per hour, but she knows she safe with papi behind the wheel.

She watches the trees fly by outside, the sunset peeking through the foliage in spurts. Maggie clutches her seatbelt strap with white knuckles, giggling as the breeze makes both her pigtails fly about.

Lenny’s _Mama Said_ album is Maggie’s favorite from her dad’s music collection, even if her cousin Sam won’t shut up about how it’s _so old now_.

Her father tosses the plastic case into the passenger seat and slides the tape into the car’s player, skipping ahead to track four before Maggie even has a chance to request it.

With all this and the chocolate bar she got to pick out at the filling station, Maggie feels like the luckiest kid in the world.

_So many years we’ve tried / To keep our love alive / But baby, it ain’t over ‘til it’s over_

+

Maggie lies awake for hours, at this point too numb to cry, the night that her aunt’s house becomes her new home.

It’s been a tumultuous week: around her parents, at school, in the girls’ locker room before and after gym class. Maggie is mostly unsurprised at the end result, by the time it finally happens that Sunday.

Sure, everything came crashing down around her unexpectedly and fast. Her parents are horrible people. She’s in a lot of pain and alone. But she’s alive, and she’s already counting down the days until she can leave this town - and most of the people in it - in the dust. She’s counting down the days until she can begin again.

By 2:30 a.m. Maggie’s fed up from staring at the cracks in the ceiling while contemplating what surviving the next three years might look like, so she slips out of bed and locates her duffle bag in the dark. She unzips the bag and digs through it, destroying stacks of neatly packed clothes in the process, eventually getting her hands on her old walkman set.

She retreats back to bed and buries herself under the covers, her head sinking deep into the pillow. As she situates her headphones and presses the play button, Maggie loses herself in the familiar melodies and lyrics, and in the sweet memory of that warm summer evening.

This time, though, Maggie’s the one driving. She’s driving away from Blue Springs, away from her parents, and full speed ahead toward the future she deserves. The future she’s determined to reach.

_So many tears I’ve cried / So much pain inside / But baby, it ain’t over ‘til it’s over_

+

Four months into their relationship, Maggie suggests that she and Alex take a trip to Midvale. After some mild convincing, Alex agrees and seems excited at the idea. This is Maggie’s first time to visit, and it’s the first time in years that Alex has willingly returned outside of the odd holiday or funeral.

When they arrive that Wednesday afternoon, they don’t go to the Danvers’ house: first, Alex gives Maggie a tour of Midvale itself.

Alex takes her past the old roller skating rink where she had her 10th birthday, and then the soda shop downtown where she worked part time two summers in a row.

Then they drive past Alex’s school buildings, each one abandoned for the summer holiday. They come upon the elementary school last and pull around to the back of building, parking next to the playground.

Alex cuts the engine and marvels at how everything looks exactly the same, but so much smaller.

“Well, you _are_ bigger, Danvers,” Maggie says.

Alex smirks in response as she opens her car door. She jogs over to the jungle gym, straight to the monkey bars and moves swiftly across them, bending her legs to avoid touching the ground. Then she finds a swing.

Maggie turns the radio up a notch, gets out of the car, and climbs up to sit on the hood, happy to enjoy the view of her girlfriend reliving this part of her youth.

She imagines that version of Alex: before the superpowered sister, before the weight-of-the-world responsibility, before the feelings of difference built up and buried deep inside.

Alex returns to the car a few minutes later and hops up next to Maggie, removing her jacket to use it as a pillow before lying down.

The radio hums behind them with a song’s beginning.

_Here we are still together / We are / So much time wasted / Playing games with love_

“Oh, wow,” Maggie says.

“What?” Alex asks.

Maggie laughs and nods over her shoulder. “This song.”

Alex studies her, still searching for the connection.

Maggie recalls the bits that make the memory special in its simplicity, sharing everything with Alex. The favorite cassette tape. Feeling invincible even though she knew her dad was speeding. The magenta-colored band-aid on her left knee, covering a nasty scrape from a tumble on the pavement at the barbeque. The pigtails - curly, positioned high above each ear, a tangled mess by the time she and her father made it home.

“I usually avoid thinking about my dad, for obvious reasons,” Maggie continues. “But that moment- I’ve always held it close.”

Alex reaches for Maggie’s hand, lacing their fingers together against the warm metal. Maggie looks down at Alex and finds her grinning.

“Five-year-old Maggie Sawyer in pigtails?” Alex asks, her index finger waving about. “Eating a Hershey’s bar? Please tell me someone took a picture.”

Maggie snorts, shaking her head and covering her face with her hands.

Alex sits up and circles both her arms around Maggie.

“I bet you were the cutest,” Alex says, leaning in to brush her mouth against Maggie’s. “And I’m glad you have that moment to remember, because it’s beautiful.”

As the sun starts to set, the sky radiates a fiery glow, much like it did that evening in Nebraska.

Maggie thinks this moment is pretty beautiful, too.

**Author's Note:**

> The song used in the title and throughout the story is "It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over" by Lenny Kravitz.
> 
> I feel like up until everything went to shit, music was the one of the few things Maggie and her dad bonded over from the beginning. I also think it's important for Maggie to be able to fondly remember those moments, separate from the weight and devastation of what happened between them, because they are hers.
> 
> Also, this is the first time I've tried to write from Maggie's perspective. I _loved_ getting inside her head, but hopefully I did her justice, too.
> 
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
